Stocks, euro slip; caution ahead of more Greek talks

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock markets slipped and the euro fell on Friday, with investors cautious ahead of a meeting in Europe that could decide whether Greece will default on loans.

A man walks under an electronic information board at the London Stock Exchange in the City of London January 2, 2013. REUTERS/Paul Hackett

The S&P 500 ended nearly flat, though shares of U.S. chipmakers fell after a weak forecast from Micron Technology Inc (MU.O).

Greece rejected a five-month extension of bailouts on Friday, a day before euro zone finance ministers will meet to decide the country’s fate.

The country needs new funding to avoid defaulting on a $1.8 billion debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund on June 30. If it defaults, it may have to leave the euro.

“If this issue gets resolved, then we’re set up for a fairly decent market, but it could be that everything falls apart on the 30th,” said James Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisers in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. “Market valuation is high in an absolute sense.”

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 56.66 points, or 0.32 percent, to 17,947.02, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.7 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,101.61 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 31.69 points, or 0.62 percent, to 5,080.51.

The PHLX Semiconductor index .SOX fell 2.4 percent.

For the week, both the Dow and S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent while the Nasdaq fell 0.7 percent.

MSCI’s all-country index .MIWD00000PUS, a gauge of stock performance in 46 countries, dipped 0.3 percent, and was down for a third day, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index closed up 0.1 percent to 1,574.08 points.

The ongoing Greek debt talks left currency markets in tight ranges while policymakers traded barbs before more Greek talks.

The euro last traded at $1.1163, off 0.37 percent on the day and down 1.65 percent for the week EUR=EBS late in the New York session.

TREASURY YIELDS JUMP

U.S. long-dated bond yields rose to near nine-month highs, however, as optimism that a Greece deal would be reached curbed demand for safe-haven U.S. debt.

U.S. 30-year Treasuries US30YT=RR were last down 1-24/32 in price to yield 3.25 percent, from a yield of 3.16 percent late Thursday. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR were last down 24/32 in price to yield 2.48 percent, from a yield of 2.39 percent late Thursday.

In commodities trading, gold was little changed, after falling to a three-week low, on short-covering at the end of the week and caution ahead of the crunch talks on Greece this weekend.

Spot gold XAU= was down 0.1 percent at $1,171.55 an ounce.

Crude futures ended little changed after signs of a deal for Greece, while Iran faced continued difficulty in securing a nuclear agreement to end sanctions on its oil exports.

Brent LCOc1 settled up 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $63.26 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $59.63.

Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, Daniel Bases and Sam Forgione in New York, John Geddie and Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Steve Orlofsky and Chizu Nomiyama